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The Jinchuuriki
"The path of the ninja is paved with storms." The Jinchuuriki will be a story that increases the dark themes throughout the canonical Naruto series; abandonment, child abuse, emotional and physical isolation. The idea came up while contemplating the longevity of the Naruto series, and that collided with the opinion that most animes are well-known for well-executed brevity. Thus, a theory began: if Naruto were condensed and slightly more realistic, would it appeal to people more? Face it; Naruto is not the first example one would use to explain ninjas. The main character is a walking bulls-eye, rarely do we ever see the ninjas enter a battle that doesn't turn into a prolonged fist or environment fight, and most of the ninja-children are able to fight off scores or on par of the adult, mercenary ninja. The Jinchuuriki is a reflection of what a much darker ninja world would possibly be like. The ninja villages are quite corrupt, as implied in the canonical storyline, with their leaders providing a mercenary force composed of children either completely traumatized by their training or hypnotized into becoming war dolls. The crazy jutsus and the constant reliance on Shounen logic is somewhat reduced, and while demons and superhuman talent are still somewhat present, it doesn't lie on the level of headbutting a giant sand monster, crushing a village with a gravity bomb, or repeated assaults with giant snakes and incredibly drawn-out fights with enemy ninjas. Most specifically, no explaining how you will defeat your enemy to that enemy. You may not agree with the way The Jinchuuriki presents the Naruto series, in a fashion I proudly would like to say is inspired by Hellsing and Cowboy Bebop, but hopefully you can admire my perspective when I say that I loathe the 40+ episodes of watching Naruto encounter people he considers more annoying than himself. The Sora and Zabuza arcs felt far too long to me. Zabuza is supposed to be this badass assassin and I see him crying in the end. Sure, it was tear-jerking, but still, how long was this Zabuza/Haku thing dragged on for. I don't like how Pain kills almost everyone, and they all get brought back because he has a crazy "revive everyone" power. I don't like Tobi trolling the piss out of everyone, or Namikaze out-trolling him, and I don't like Sasuke spamming his Sharingan. I don't like the web of reasons Itachi had for becoming a fangirl magnet. I don't like Sasuke being a recklessly evil nutcase. I don't even like the Sharingan that much, but woah, wait a minute, that's staying in - because I like the concept, and I feel it has a lot of potential for awesomeness. I considered calling this "Dark Naruto" so that the title would feel ironic; Naruto series =/= Dark Naruto series. The Jinchuuriki felt like a more serious, Japanese-sounding title, so I stuck with it. -On the other hand, maybe one fic could be "Dark Naruto" while the other is "The Jinchuuriki" that would focus on Sasuke. STORY ARCS Prologue: The Forbidden Kage Scroll Mizuki, a Jonin of the Leaf Village, steals one of the Hokage's ancient scrolls and attempts to flee the village. He hides the scroll in the woodlands, but is killed by the teamwork of Ebisu, Ibuki Morino, and Iruka Umino. The scroll he coveted is never found by the Hokage's guards and dismissed by the Hokage, that is, until it is found by an interloping prankster named Naruto, who takes the secret technique hidden inside the scroll for himself. Chapter One: The Chunin Exams One month since the theft of the Forbidden Scroll; the Chunin Exams take place as scheduled, and the Rookie Nine (composed of Teams 7, 8, 9, and 10) have entered the second phase of the exams - a test of survival where the young Genin must complete their mission without a sensei. Unknown to everyone, a missing-nin from the Sound Village, Orochimaru, has entered in disguise for the purpose of targeting Sasuke Uchiha. He does succeed in ensnaring Sasuke by infecting him with a Cursed Seal, but is warded off thanks to a coordinated retaliation from Sasuke's allies, Naruto and Sakura. Elsewhere, excluding Team Guy, 8, and 10, all other teams have been slaughtered by a team of ninjas from the Sand Village, commanded by a figure named Gaara. The only other survivor is a man named Kabuto Yakushi, claiming that the rest of his team perished during the test. The third phase of the Chunin Exams is the steepest - in order to be promoted, the surviving genin team must eliminate their Jonin mentor/sensei in battle. Most of the teams are unable to accomplish this due to their connections with their mentors, though Sasuke does attempt to do so, he is unable to overcome Kakashi without Naruto or Sakura's support. The exams are post-poned due to the discovery of an unusual number of deaths that took place this year. Chapter Two: Land of Waves Reduced to the status of a genin-team, Team 7 inadvertently acquires a C-Rank mission that possesses the difficulty of an A-Ranked mission. They are assigned to protect a bridge-builder who is traveling to the Land of the Waves, but the journey intensifies as they are targeted by one of Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Zabuza Momochi, who incapacitates Kakashi and leaves him to drown in a freezing lake. Team 7 retreats. The war between the three genin and their pursuer becomes a desperate race to live as they are quickly outmatched by him. The assassin prepares to kill the bridge-maker, but Sasuke gets in the way and takes the blow. Zabuza then kills the bridge-builder, but before he can finish off Naruto, Sakura, or Sasuke, Kakashi returns in time to deliver a lethal blow. Zabuza survives long enough to retreat and massacre his employers when they refuse to pay him. Chapter Three: Infiltration Orochimaru infiltrates the third phase of the Chunin Exams and pressures Sasuke into giving into his influence, and only the support of Kakashi and Sakura is able to soothe the craving for power now filling Sasuke's heart, already filled with hatred for his older brother, Itachi. When Sasuke resists, Orochimaru sets another plan into motion: manipulating the host of the demon, Shukaku, to go on a rampage. This causes a citywide battle as one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, teams up with the Third Hokage and together they battle Orochimaru and his Sound Elites. The Sound are defeated and Hiruzen manages to cut off both of Orochimaru's arms, however, he is dealt a killing blow in return, leaving the Leaf Village now leaderless and with a rampaging demon to contend with. QNaruto, Sakura, and Sasuke manage to pursue Gaara, and when Naruto is the only one able to continue fighting, he too is possessed by the spirit of a demon, Kyuubi, locked inside of him. Shukaku ceases his rampage as the Kyuubi orders him to cease destroying things, and warning him that the day of their reckoning is soon to come, both demons fade. Gaara and Naruto are both located and brought back. Chapter Four: Search for Tsunade Naruto becomes enamored with Jiraiya's fighting skills after the attack and wants to make him his new sensei. Jiraiya, now faced with the responsibility of becoming Hokage, offers him to grant him apprenticeship if he will help him locate and convince the other Sannin, Lady Tsunade, to become Hokage in his place. Naruto happily agrees, learning about a jutsu called the Rasengan. They find her in a nearby town where she has become a heavy drinker and gambler. Tsunade almost kills them both when they first approach her, but with some prodding, she eventually comes around the next day and questions their objective. At the same time, Orochimaru arrives, offering to cure Tsunade's unique illness if she will restore his limbs. Tsunade refuses, and together, she and Jiraiya attack Orochimaru and his pupil, Kabuto. Kabuto poisons Tsunade and Naruto, allowing his master and himself to make a swift retreat. The poison is not as effective as hoped, as Tsunade proves resistant due to already possessing numerous toxins in her body from perfecting her band of medical jutsu. Chapter Five: Appearance of Akatsuki Just when the village believes Tsunade's return will help soothe the recent chaos, a pair of S-class criminals from the Akatsuki group, Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha, infiltrate the Hidden Leaf Village in an effort to capture a person they call the "Nine-Tails". Their search is interrupted when they are recognized by Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and Jiraiya, who attempt to capture the criminals. However, Itachi and Kisame continue their search and find Naruto, completely unaware of their identities, and try to capture him. The "Kisame" and "Itachi" that the Jonin are focused on were actually part of the elaborate illusion that Itachi conjured, making them attack each other while believing the others had disappeared. Jiraiya and Kakashi are the first to disassemble this ruse and inform the others. As Kisame drains Naruto's chakra with his sword, Jiraiya and Kakashi arrive in time to fend them off. Itachi is wounded during the escape and tells Kisame to proceed without him, and while alone, Itachi greets his bitter younger brother, Sasuke, who tries to follow them so that he can kill Itachi. This fails however, and Sasuke is badly injured and overwhelmed by his older brother. One week later, the hospital that Sasuke stayed in claims that he may not be able to continue his career, but Sasuke mysteriously disappears from his hospital ward. Unbeknownst to his comrades, the wounded Sasuke, humiliated by his defeat to Itachi, has vowed to seek tutelage from Orochimaru, and plans to turn the Cursed Seal into his advantage over Itachi's genjutsu. Chapter Six: Rescuing Gaara Naruto is plagued by nightmares of the Kyuubi, who senses that Shukaku's host is in danger and threatens Naruto that he will die if Shukaku's lifeforce ceases to be. These events come to a fold when the Sand Village, weakened following a surprise attack from Akatsuki, inquisitions the Leaf Village to help rescue Gaara, who in their hands would become a danger to everyone and everything. A team is formed to track down the Akatsuki members that kidnapped Gaara, and this eight-man squad (Sakura, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Kakashi, Yamato, Rock Lee, and reluctantly, Naruto) travels to the Hidden Sand Village where they are guided to their objective. Meanwhile, the Akatsuki members that kidnapped Gaara, Deidara and Sasori, have taken refuge in the base of a mountain far from the Sand Village. Planning out their next move, they are interrupted by the arrival of the 8-Man Squad using one of the Flying Thunder God kunai that had wounded one of them, one of Sasori's dolls. Naruto, Kakashi, Kiba, and Shino focus on tracking Deidara as he escapes with Gaara, and Sakura, Hinata, Rock Lee, and Yamato handle Sasori. They triumph when Sasori moves in for a killing blow with his real body, allowing Shino to track that body and for Yamato to age the material of that body. Meanwhile, pursuing Deidara mortally wounds Kiba's companion, Akamaru, and the two are forced to recover. Naruto, in rage, strikes Deidara and injures him, rescuing Gaara, but Deidara manages to flee into the forests. As he flees, he is found by Sasuke, now fully recovered thanks to Orochimaru, and is grossly eviscerated by Sasuke's new lightning sword. Deidara's corpse appears to have been struck by lightning, leaving the 8-Man Squad's trail cold. Chapter Seven: Immortal Burdens While Gaara is rescued and the Leaf and Sand villages recuperate, Team 7 is still missing a team member, and so Tsunade inducts a new member, Sai, into their ranks. The new team is assigned to locating and returning Sasuke Uchiha back to the Leaf Village alive or dead, now that he is considered a missing-nin and a potential threat for leaking village secrets. Also, Kurenai is removed from leadership, and replaced temporarily by Yamato. Team Asuma is ambushed by Akatsuki members Hidan and Kakuzu, both of whom are considered to be immortal. Asuma is killed and taken by Kakuzu, leaving Team Asuma leaderless, and before they plot to strike again, Kakuzu removes Asuma's heart and incorporates it into his immortal design, using other people's hearts to extend his own longevity. Hidan, meanwhile, mocks this self-reliant brand of immortality, for he is subscribed to his clan's deity, Lord Jashin. Vengeance fills the hearts of Team Asuma. They lead an unapproved secret mission to hunt down Hidan and Kakuzu on their own, and when they find them, Shikamaru immediately decapitates Hidan. When this fails to kill him, Kakuzu attacks, revealing that he cut out Asuma's heart and even using the Jonin's headless corpse as a shield and a weapon against the team. In retaliation, Ino takes control of Kakuzu's mind and forces him to reveal his weakness. Shikamaru listens to Kakuzu's explanation and possesses him with his shadow, learning that Kakuzu cannot die until all of the hearts he had taken are destroyed. Kakuzu, maddened as Shikamaru forces him to stab each of his hearts and die a gradual, painful death, reveals that each heart represents a personality that he has absorbed, and he tries to appeal to Shikamaru using Asuma's, but this fails all the same when Sai sets the final heart on fire, killing Kakuzu. Hidan's severed head curses them all, making vulgar comments about how before he let Kakuzu take Asuma's heart, he tortured the Jonin using a voodoo doll-like jutsu to inflict pain without killing him. As he describes Asuma's terror-filled last moments, Shikamaru orders his comrades to begin digging a hole and set it full with charges. He tosses Hidan's head and corpse into the pit, and sets off the charges, burying Hidan's remains alive where he can suffocate forever. When they return, Team Kakashi and Asuma are reprimanded for undertaking an illegal mission. Team 7 is demoted with Kakashi being reduced to Chunin status, making Yamato into the team's effective leader, and Team Asuma is sentenced to one year of incarceration and sensory deprivation with no outside contact and sensory; ironically, this mirrors the sentence that Shikamaru placed on Hidan, except that Team Asuma will most likely perish in due time without parole. Chapter Eight: Brotherly Pursuit Jiraiya kidnaps Naruto in order to prepare him for what Jiraiya suspects to be a blown-out conflict with Akatsuki, thanks to the loss of four of their members. Elsewhere, Sasuke and Orochimaru fall into conflict as Orochimaru wants to take Sasuke's body for his own in order to inherit the Uchiha gift, but Sasuke rebels and manages to seemingly slay Orochimaru, abandoning Kabuto, Orochimaru's own pupil, to his own devices. Sasuke wants revenge against his brother. To do so, he forms a team of Orochimaru's fellow experiments: Suigetsu, Karin, and a monstrous ally named Jugo, who was stuck in partial transformation due to Orochimaru's tinkering. He takes them all on the path to his older brother, but they are impeded by Orochimaru's Sound Four, led by Kabuto, who are angered by Orochimaru's death. Displaying his newfound power with the Sharingan and Cursed Seal, Sasuke kills the Sound Four swiftly, leaving Kabuto with Orochimaru's remains. Sasuke's "Team Snake" tracks down Itachi's position in Akatsuki, after Deidara slipped that he knew Sasuke was Itachi's brother. They find Itachi seemingly on his deathbed, but this is an illusion created by Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan which only Sasuke is able to see through. Their attack is unsuccessful, with Sasuke losing one of his eyes to Itachi and the rest of the team getting beaten through Itachi's illusions. However, before Itachi can finish them off, he succumbs to an illness. With most of Team Snake incapacitated, Sasuke is captured by an unknown figure from Akatsuki, calling himself Tobi, who explains the truth behind Itachi's massacre of the Uchiha clan - the clan wanted to strike the Hidden Leaf Village and effectively initiate a civil war inside the Land of Fire, and Itachi, a double agent, was ordered to destroy them, but wouldn't eliminate Sasuke, who he wanted to avenge their clan's name and become a hero of Konoha. Itachi wanted Sasuke to redeem the Uchihas by killing his "monster of a brother" and wanted it to occur before he passed away, however, it seemed as if fate had not intended for that to be so. Itachi's final act was making Sasuke hate him for tearing out his right eye, in addition to causing so much death and misery throughout his life. Instead, Sasuke feels only sorrow because of Tobi's revealment of Itachi's real plan. Now missing one of his eyes, his team neutralized, and suffering from the loss of his brother... Sasuke's inner Mangekyo Sharingan awakens, blessing him with heightened Sharingan abilities and genjutsu on par with his brother's. Sasuke vows to destroy Konoha for what he perceiveS as genocide, and wants to destroy everything the Leaf Village stands for. However, Tobi threatens to kill him if he attacks immediately, as he is not prepared to launch a one-man war. Chapter Nine: Invasion of Pain Without warning, Konoha is viciously blasted to pieces by the work of Akatsuki members Pain and Konan, using a clay bomb system devised by Deidara prior to his death. This kills thousands of Konoha's citizenry and the village elders are unable to flee without their military force first clearing a path for them. Pain and Konan strike, and as two of the most powerful members of Akatsuki, single-handedly overwhelm several of Konoha's most valued forces. Ebisu, a ninja instructor, reveals himself as an agent of Akatsuki, and attempts to kill Tsunade after drugging her with a slow-acting poison. But his attempt is thwarted by Kakashi and Guy, who kill him in turn. Reports come in that there are six enemy shinobi attacking the village, much to the disbelief of Konoha's chain of command, but these six shinobi seem to be working in perfect unison and aiding each others' senses. They are the Six Paths of Pain, an infamous assassin team. Kakashi leads a team of himself, Yamato, Iruka, Guy, and Neji Hyuga (now of Jonin rank) to combat the Six Paths of Pain. Yet despite being aided by Konoha's own special force, Ino-Shika-Cho, they are brutally outmatched. The Six Paths of Pain are just corpses being controlled and manipulated by a powerful external force which regulates all of their senses as one combat body. In the ensuing battle, Kakashi gives his life to completely destroy the Asura Path's body. Naruto and Jiraiya return from their "sabbatical" to find Konha now a wasteland, devastated by the combination of Deidara's bombs, Ebisu's betrayal, and the Six Paths of Pain. Using the new Sage technique that Jiraiya had instilled in him, Naruto suggests that they cover more ground; Naruto will protect Tsunade, while Jiraiya will assist in defending and helping the villagers. They split up; Naruto's speed has increased dramatically, but Jiraiya fears the worst for Konoha. Naruto learns that the Six Paths of Pain have struck and Tsunade is slowly dying from poisoned sake. The Hokage Tower is ambushed by the Six Paths who begin killing everyone in sight, but Jiraiya appears and battles all Six Paths by himself. His Sage technique manages to destroy one of the Paths, but intervention from Konan with her origami ninjutsu costs Jiraiya his victory, and he is killed by the remaining four Paths of Pain. This is witnessed by Naruto, unable to defeat the Paths by himself, who goes into into a rage and makes a deal with the Kyuubi inside of him, offering it release if it will first help him kill the Paths of Pain. The fox agrees, primarily because it wants to experience more bloodshed; the Kyuubi is unleashed, taking down the various paths with ease. Before the Kyuubi can break free from Naruto after killing the final Path, a seal is placed on Naruto by Nagato, the owner of the "Pain" alias. Seeing the measures that Naruto undertook to avenge his fallen master causes Nagato a great deal of pain, both from killing his former mentor and seeing Jiraiya's student almost unleash a worse evil upon the world. Nagato reasons that the Kyubi would desecrate the battlefield that was littered with the dead, and that he would not allow that to happen, shortly before passing away due to being disconnected from the device he used to control the Six Paths of Pain for too long. Chapter Ten: Kage Summit The Leaf Village demands a meeting of the various Kages in order to respond to the attack from Akatsuki. The Mizukage, the Raikage, and the Tsuchikage from the Hidden Mist, Stone, and Cloud villages all attend, however, the Kazekage sends a message of tardiness due to a prior ceremonial engagement. While all of the villages have shared eminent dislike of the others' methods, they all agree that groups such as Akatsuki cannot be allowed to cause this much death and chaos. The meeting is being monitored by many parties, among them: Danzo, a corrupt leader from Konoha, and his underground mercenary force, Root. Opposite them are Akatsuki's sleeper cell, Team Hawk, led by Sasuke Uchiha and his team mates, who are planning to annihilate an unknown target. They are detected by the Raikage and Mizukage, while a hidden Akatsuki spy, Zetsu, watches the battle unfold, and Sasuke appears to retreat at the same time as Danzo. Danzo flees the assembly, content with his push for power already being completed as he plans to have his Root assassins eliminate Tsunade. However, he is caught off-guard by Tobi and Sasuke, who corner him with Sasuke attacking first. His target is in fact Danzo, who ordered Itachi to eliminate the Uchiha, but Danzo defends himself with multiple Sharingan embedded in his arm. Sasuke and Tobi cut Danzo's arm off to prevent him from using the additional Sharingans and take his head and arm back, leaving the corpse for the Kage security teams to locate. Team 7, now only Naruto, Sakura, and Sai, learn about Sasuke's criminal activity and resolve to engage him alone before the village leaders decide his fate. Meanwhile, the rest of Team Taka is arrested. Tobi Sasuke Zetsu Chapter Eleven: Atonement Tobi offers Sasuke the choice to have his brother's eye transplanted into his own, and then submits Sasuke to the treatment by force. The treatment bestows Sasuke with the Eternal Mangekyo, a version of the Sharingan that is said to be infinite. The recovery is interrupted by Kabuto, now having cannibalized Orochimaru's remains, who strikes a deal with Tobi to assist him in dealing with the uprising of ninja armies. Tobi reluctantly accepts, and receives the promise of an entire army of revived ninja. A number of nations have united to fight Akatsuki, and their march finds an army of formerly-deceased shinobi assailing their ranks. The Leaf Army is led by Jonin including most of the Rookie 9. Meanwhile, Naruto, Sai, and Sakura undertake a mission to infiltrate Akatsuki's headquarters through underground methods, and eventually locate them with the help of the escaped Team Taka. Chapter Twelve: Sin The war commences and Tobi resurrects several Paths of Pain.